A Leap Apart
by Stranger In A Normal Land
Summary: AU. During the training trip, a slight difference occurred. How will this affect the story of Ranma? And what kind of new chaos will make an appearance?


Disclaimer: Look at the monkey! Damn, didn't work.  
  
All right, Ranma ain't mine.  
  
  
  
A Leap Apart  
  
  
  
  
  
It is said that a butterfly flapping its wings one place, can cause a monsoon halfway across the globe. Certainly, what seems to be only a slight difference can have far reaching implications. Indeed, in this timeline, something only a little different happened to everyone's favorite combination martial artist/chaos magnet: a slight change in a wind current, allowing an intense storm over Japan to stay at full force for a few hours longer. It all started about 2 years before Ranma and Genma arrived in Nerima, on that fateful day.  
  
Genma and Ranma had been hiking towards the secluded monastery, located in the mountains that cover so much of Japan, for almost 2 weeks after getting back from training in Thailand. However, a few days before, while sparring over a deep ravine, in torrential downpour, a solid hit by Ranma had, in what would have, for anyone else, been an extraordinarily unlikely sequence of events, sent Genma flyng into a tree near their campsite, knocking it over, the uprooting of which pushing Genma's backpack onto a slope towards the edge of the ravine, where it fell into the raging waters below. It had been recovered a short time later, but some supplies, most importantly their map and compass, had been lost.  
  
Of course, Genma had decided to wing it, and they had been hiking most of the time since. By Ranma's mental picture of the area they'd covered, they were going back and forth over the mountains of the region, presumably so that they couldn't miss the monastery.  
  
Although he didn't mind the hiking, he was a bit bored, and really looking forward to learning some new techniques. As they hiked through the continuing rainstorm late into the evening, however, there were two details that neither he nor his father knew: the first was that they had passed the monestary they were looking for some time previously, and had just happened to not notice it on the next mountain over through the heavy rain. The second was that the monestary wasn't the only building out in this lonely region. Indeed, there was a squarish structure made of concrete, steel, and glass, nearby, and they were headed straight towards it.  
  
"Yo, pops! I think I see a building ahead!" Ranma said. Genma, exhausted from hiking across mountains for nearly 16 consecutive hours by now, merely grunted. As they got closer, they noticed that it looked more like a laboratory than a monastery. "Hey, what kinda monastery is this, anyhow, pops? This ain't another of those idiotic 'special training' exercises, like those military bases, an' 'sperimental labs, is it?" Genma frowned, recognizing that the boy was catching onto his style too soon. "No, Ranma. I am as suprised as you by the appearance. However, this monastery has existed for many years, and teaches several rare and powerful techniques." Ranma was somewhat jaded to these sorts of remarks after 8 years, and replied, "Well, whatever, old man. I just want a place to stop for the night, and ta train in the mornin'."  
  
The conversation concluded, they walked up to a conveniently placed door, and knocked. They waited a few minutes, and then the door opened to reveal a middle aged man in what looked like a loose-fitting lab coat. However, the rest of his clothing, such as could be seen under the coat, looked equally loose, comfortable, and mobile; rather unusual given that he otherwise gave the impression of a stereotypical older  
  
scientist. He took a look at the wet, gi-clad martial artists, and said, "Ah! Welcome, sirs. Come in, come in. You are wet, and must be tired and hungry. Please, rest here." Upon hearing this, Genma turned to Ranma and said, "You see, boy? This will be an excellent place to learn new techniques." Then, turning back to the lab coat-clad man, he continued, "Thank you." The man stepped back, and waved them on in, and, as soon as they were inside, proceeded at a job down the halls.  
  
Sometime later, Ranma and Genma, were sitting in a cafeteria, eating, and talking with several more men in loose fitting clothing and lab coats. Introductions had been made, and the somewhat eccentrically dressed scientists were asking some questions. One of them, a very old and wise-looking bespectacled man asked, "So, what brings you here? We do not have many visitors here at the Institute." Genma paused in his inhalation  
  
of the food before him. "Institute? I thought you were a monastery." He asked, clearly puzzled. "Ah, no Mr. Saotome, the monastery of which you speak is some miles north of here. We are the Institute of Martial Arts Physics." At this, Genma looked quite skeptical, while Ranma burst out laughing. "Martial Arts Physics? You gotta  
  
be joking! Who would come up with somethin' that ridiculous?" he scoffed, continuing to shovel food in his mouth.   
  
He was interrupted in this task, however, when Genma hit him in the back of the head. "Ranma! Whether you have doubts about their art, we are their guests." he said, seriously. Ranma looked at him with heavy-lidded eyes, and asked quizzically,  
  
"And when, old man, have you ever worried about bein' polite before?" In response, Genma threw his hands up into the air, in a 'why, god, why?!?' gesture, and cried out, "Oh! Such an ungrateful son I have! What have I done to deserve this?" Ranma merely watched impassively, and, one eyebrow raised, replied, "I dunno, pops, where should I begin?", which earned him a dirty look from his father.  
  
The old man with whom they had been speaking began to sweat heavily, and, fearing a destructive fight, intersposed himself between the two. He looked at Ranma, and said, "So you have doubts about our style. Why don't you come to our sparring lab, and watch for a bit. Maybe that will settle your doubts?" Ranma shrugged, but, always interested in  
  
anything called a martial art, got up and followed the old man out into an institutional looking tiled corridor, with doors on either side, going down the long hallway. They passed by several reinforced doors, with markings like "Caution: Laser In Use", radioactivity symbols, and "Eye Protection Required", before arriving at a set of unmarked double doors. Passing through, they entered a rather large room, styled like a cross between a dojo and a gymnasium.   
  
Off to one side were some free weights stored neatly on racks, with some pads on the wooden floor. Nearby were some open closets with training gear and dummies. On the other side of the room, several more people in the odd clothing were sparring. They seemed to be fairly skilled, throwing quick, powerful attacks, executing perfect blocks and evasions in response, using leverage to throw each other, and landing from being thrown without trouble. However, Ranma was puzzled, as he didn't see where the 'physics' came into it. "Hey, this looks like normal martial arts. Where's this physics stuff?" he asked. The older man raised an eyebrow. "Patience, young Saotome, all will be revealed in good time."  
  
The sparring continued for several minutes, picking up a bit in pace. Still, though, Ranma saw nothing out of the ordinary, until one young man grabbed his partner by the lapels, and tried to throw him over his head. However, instead of getting thrown, the other young man twisted in mid-air, grabbed his foe's lapels, and appeared to roll down the front of his opponent's body, and executing a perfect backward throw. Not to be outdone, his opponent shifted positions in midair, did a triangle jump off of the wall, propelling himself impossibly straight up, and triangle jumping once more off the ceiling, then rocketing towards his foe on the ground. The other martial artist sidestepped, and was caught off guard when his opponent extended his arms to the floor, then redirected himself, allowing him to land a powerful kick on his opponent, who sailed across the room before landing softly on his feet.  
  
The other matches going on in the room had halted to watch the impressive display, and, as it finished, Ranma's guide clapped once, and then called, "That's enough for tonight. Dismissed!" Immediately, all the students in the room bowed to him, called out "yes, sensei!", quickly put away all the gear, and jogged out of the room. Ranma still had a puzzled look, as he tried to figure out how physics had come into play, and also, trying to figure out how they had done some of those manuvers. The old man looked over at him and chuckled. "Well, young Saotome, perhaps tomorrow you'd like to spar one of our masters, and maybe learn a bit about our style?" Ranma nodded, thoughfully, before being led to the room where his father and he were to spend the night.  
  
As they got ready for bed, Genma said, "This is no place for true martial artists! We leave for the monastery tomorrow, Ranma." However, Ranma's curiosity had been piqued by the display earlier. "I dunno, pops. We've got plenty of time. Why don't we stay for a day or two. Ya never know what techniques'll come in handy, right?" He looked over at his father, and, realizing he was about to get shot down, added, "Plus, it's free food, and a warm bed, for a couple'a days." Genma nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed. A martial artist must be prepared to meet any challenge. Very well, Ranma, we'll stay for another day, but no more. I don't want my son getting soft and weak!" Shortly, Ranma drifted off to sleep, still trying to figure out how someone could triangle jump straight up off a vertical surface.  
  
The next day, Ranma dressed and ate hurriedly, wanting to spar as soon as possible. By the time he made it to the training room, a middle aged man, whose presence, somehow, commanded respect, was sitting in the middle of the room, writing something on a clipboard. Ranma looked over the man's shoulder, and saw a complex equation, complete with several symbols he didn't recognize. After a moment, the man noticed noticed him. Setting the clipboard aside, he said, "ah, you must be Saotome Ranma. My name is Nagatani Koshiro. I'm pleased to meet you, and I'm looking forward to sparring with you." In reply, Ranma bowed, and said, "Pleased to meet you, sir. I look forward to sparring with you, as well." Koshiro smiled, and took a fighting stance, then said, "very well, let's get to it."  
  
Initially, they spent a few minutes testing the other's capabilities; seeing what holes they had in their defenses, how quickly they could react, and so forth. Shortly, the master of martial arts physics raised an eyebrow. "You are quite talented, Saotome Ranma." he said. "Thanks," replied Ranma, "I've been trainin' ta be the best for a long time now." The warm up over, both martial artists leapt towards the other.   
  
Ranma smirked and let fly a series of punches, setting himself up to throw a solid kick to the midsection. However, he was suprised to find the kick softly deflected, the rotation created throwing him slightly off balance. As a result, he was barely able to avoid the elbow which seemed to simply materialize near his head. However, it shifted direction smoothly, and though he attempted to change direction once more, it still caught him hard on one shoulder.  
  
With that, however, they were past each other, and each landed smoothly on the floor. This time, Nagatani advanced across the ground, his stance shifting to allow a lightning quick flurry of punches. Ranma saw them coming, and moved to counter, but was suprised, when, instead, his opponent threw a side kick that came in just a hair under his arms and caught him dead center on his chest, launching him across the room. However, he rebounded off the wall, and launched a flying kick. Nagatani had other plans, it seemed, as he ducked below it, and kicked above and behind his new position. Ranma was far from out of tricks himself, and caught the kick one-handed, rotating his body about the protruding limb, and landing nimbly on top of it. He launched a kick which connected with the upper back of the older man, and he backflipped off as his opponent was sent skidding on his stomach.  
  
Koshiro put his hands beneath him as he fell, though, and, having skidded a few feet, pressed himself off the floor in a modified handspring, landing nimbly, once more. "I am very impressed," He said, "I have never seen someone so young, who was anywhere near as good as you are." Ranma smiled at that. "You're not so bad yourself." he allowed. Once more, a flurry of blows was exchanged. However, Ranma noticed that the older man was allowing himself to be pushed back towards the wall. As he reached a point about five feet from the wall, Nagatani called out "Periodic motion movement: Sine!", and turned parallel to the wall. From there, he leapt in an arc, rotating his body in mid-air so that his legs were still facing the middle of the room, but his torso was facing the wall. Using his hands, he pushed off the wall, arcing even higher into the room, and completing a backflip. As he landed, he dropped back into a low bridge, and, doing a back handspring, repeated the movement, picking up speed. Ranma attempted to pursue, but each rebound had the Physics master going faster along the walls. Eventually, Ranma stopped, and turned the other way, planning to attack him when next he approached.  
  
As the older master arrived in his unique manner, it seemed that he was just going to keep on moving, until just before he pushed off the wall. Ranma was already throwing a kick which would hit him in moments, as the master yelled "Angular Momentum Strike!", and twisted slightly higher. Ranma's foot just barely grazed his arched back, and then he was continuing with his now incredibly fast backflip. Just as he reached an inverted position, his entire body torqued itself sideways, and his fist blurred as it lanced out towards Ranma.  
  
To his credit, the young martial artist started to bring up a block, and lean away, but he really didn't stand a chance against the sheer speed and power of the attack. It easily broke through his guard, continuing towards the too-slowly dodging boy. Rather than taking the full blow, however, he managed to only take a glancing shot to his shoulder. Unfortunately, even that clip threw him end over end across the room, where he slammed painfully into the wall.  
  
Ranma slumped to the floor, the wind knocked out of him, as the older master stumbled on his landing, falling to one knee. He smiled ruefully as he rubbed the quickly growing bruise on his back. "I guess I shouldn't underestimate your glancing hits." he said. "I must say, you are one of the best martial artists I have ever seen. And to think, you're barely into your teens. I would be honored to teach you the rudiments of our school." By this time, Ranma could breathe somewhat normally again, and replied, "Sure. I dunno how you do some of what ya do, but I can see a lot a' uses for some o' that stuff."  
  
The master replied, "Indeed. Well, please, follow me to somewhere more suited for this discussion." Ranma shrugged, and followed him out of the training room, and across the hall to what seemed to be a laboratory. Ranma was a bit nonplussed that this was considered a better location for training, but he had seen stranger customs during the training trip, and elected to keep his mouth shut.  
  
They walked past several black tables with various gear, past a set of stainless steel sinks, and past an enclosed station with a fume hood, and finally came to an open space in the front of the room. Nagatani sat down cross-legged on the floor, and gestured for Ranma to do the same. When he had, the older master began to talk.   
  
"Ranma, do you know what physics is?" Ranma thought for a moment. "I dunno. It's one of those science thingies, right?" Koshiro looked a bit perturbed at the lack of education implied by the reply. He sighed, and changed tactics a bit. "I see that your education on the subject is rather limited. Very well, we shall start at the beginning. Do you know what science is?"   
  
Ranma brightened up a bit, and responded, "Sure! It's inventions, an' formulas, an' stuff like that..." He drifted off at the master shaking his head. "No, Ranma. Science is a process. A technique, if you will." Ranma's brow furrowed. "A technique? For what?" The master gave him a wise look. "A technique for solving problems, for understanding." A look of blank incomprehension dawned on Ranma's face. "A tool for learning," Nagatani continued. Nothing. "Very well. An example. You are fighting an opponent who seems more skilled than you. Every punch you throw is blocked. What do you do?" Momentarily caught off guard by the seeming change in subject, Ranma nonetheless quickly caught onto the new topic. "I'd try kicking him." The master nodded. "Of course. And if all of your kicks were blocked, as well?" Ranma immediately responded, "I'd look at how he blocked, ta see if there was somethin' I could take advantage of; either a hole in his guard, or some way I could make him move his guard to create a hole." Once again, the master nodded, this time in approval. "That, Ranma, is science, in its basest form."  
  
Ranma nodded for a moment, feeling that great wisdom had been imparted to him. Then, it occurred to him that he was just as lost as before, and went, "huh?" Koshiro continued, "Science has five basic tenets, if you will. It is the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena." This didn't seem to help, as Ranma, in his inimically eloquent manner, replied, "the what?" "To put it another way. First, comes observation. You watch, in order to learn what's happening. Do you understand this part?" Ranma nodded, and replied, "Sure, it's what'cha do in Martial Arts, too." "Very astute, Ranma. Next, you identify what is happening. You observe it occuring, then you identify what it is that's occurring. Are you still with me?" Once again, Ranma nodded. "Then, you describe what it is that is occurring." He noted that Ranma looked puzzled again. "Is something troubling you?" Ranma nodded, slowly. "Yeah. All this stuff you're describin' so far, it sounds pretty much like what'cha do in Martial Arts." "Correct again, Ranma. Indeed, it is what you do nearly every moment of every day."  
  
Once more, Ranma nodded. "Like I said. Martial Arts." This elicited a facefault from Koshiro. Once he recovered, he continued. "Right. Well, next comes investigation. You consider an explanation of how whatever it is, is happening, and test it to see if you are correct. Once you have an explanation that seems to work, you attempt to reproduce the result, and then you accept that explanation until or unless you have reason to accept, or look for, a better one." Ranma immediately replied, "But that sounds easy. Science in school was learnin' facts an' stuff that had nothin' ta do with Martial Arts."   
  
Once more, the older martial artist sighed, and shook his head. "No, Ranma. Science is a method of looking at the world. Of testing ideas, and modifying or replacing them as you learn more. In school, they tried to teach you some of the things science has learned, but not how they learned them."   
  
Ranma nodded, thoughtfully. "Okay, I can see that, but what about this physics stuff? What's that?" Nagatani smiled, and said, "You are a swift learner, when you put your mind to it. Physics, is the study, or science, of matter, energy, and the interactions between the two." Once more, Ranma had a completely lost look on his face, and he realized that he was still going too fast. "Matter, is what you could call 'stuff'." he said, solemly. Ranma piped up again, "What sorta stuff?" Having anticipated this question, he replied, "All 'stuff', Ranma. Any object is made of matter. From the air you breathe, to the water you drink, to the clothes you wear, the ground you walk on, and, indeed, you yourself, are all matter." The pigtailed youth considered this for a minute. "I think I get it. Everything, is matter."   
  
"In a sense, Ranma. But, by itself, matter cannot do anything. That is where energy comes in." Nagatani said. "Energy? Ya mean like electricity, an' ki, and stuff like that?" Ranma queried. "Those are forms of energy, yes, but energy is anything that makes matter do something. Moving your body takes energy. The sun shining is energy. Flying through the air, or even falling is energy." Once more, Ranma digested this. "So, any movement is energy?" "Yes. Including temperature." Noting that Ranma was looking confused again, he quickly continued, "Don't worry about that part for now. Regardless, physics is the study of how these things function, and work together, and that is where it becomes useful to martial arts."  
  
Ranma could tell they were on the edge of something important, but still it eluded him. "I don't get it. How can that stuff be useful in fighting?" Koshiro pondered a moment, looking for how to describe it to the youth. "Well, for example, let's say you want to jump up to a rooftop, and land in a particular spot. You guess how much force it will take, how to position your body, and try to land so that you won't slip or fall, right?" Ranma nodded. "Well, I know a formula that will, with practice, tell me exactly how to jump, how to position my body, and how to land perfectly, every time, even in the middle of a fight." Once again, Ranma was frowning. "But I can do that anyhow, and it don't require any complicated math." Koshiro nodded. "True enough. But say you want to rebound off that sloped roof in a precise direction. Can you do that without shifting your weight as you land?" Ranma shook his head, clearly intruiged. "And can you figure out exactly how to get exactly the angle you want, while fighting?" Another head shake. "Then this is why it would be of interest to you..."  
  
Nearly a day later, Genma stormed into the lab, his pack on his shoulders, and holding Ranma's pack. "Ranma! It is time to go. The storm has passed, and now we will be able to go to the monastery, and get some training in." Ranma turned around, lost in thought. "Huh, pops? S'it time ta go, already?" Genma frowned. "Yes, boy, we have lost too much training time as it is. We will have to work harder to regain your edge." Ranma stumbled to his feet, his lack of sleep finally catching up to him. Genma flung the pigtailed boy's pack at him in disgust, but Ranma's reflexes allowed him   
  
to catch it easily. After shouldering the pack, he turned, and bowed to the master of martial arts physics. "Thank you, master Nagatani, for your instruction." In response, the older master stood and bowed back. "It has been my pleasure instructing you. May you fare well in your travels, and I hope you will visit us again some day." Once more, Ranma bowed, but was yanked out the door by his father.  
  
"Boy, you've gotten soft, sitting around for the last couple days! What useless idiocy did they teach you, anyway?" Genma growled as they hiked towards where they now knew the monestary to be. "Well, mainly, he showed me a way to look at things, to learn the most I can from 'em." Ranma shrugged. "Bah! Did you at least learn one or two new techniques?" Genma asked. "Sorta. They told me how ta learn some techniques, but they'll take some practice 'fore I can actually use 'em." Ranma replied, more intent on whatever he was thinking about, than on the conversation. "How useless! We'll have to train extra hard at the monestary, to make up for the last two days. You have gotten too soft, from not enough practice!" Ranma nodded absently, still barely paying attention to what was said. Angrily, Genma smacked the back of his head, knocking him off the ridge they were walking along, and sending him bouncing down an old rockfall below. A moment later, from a hundred feet below, he called up, "Ow! What'd ya do THAT for, old man?" In reply, Genma shouted, "You weren't paying attention, boy! A martial artist must be prepared to defend himself at all times!"  
  
Over the next few weeks, Genma grew somewhat concerned about the boy. Ranma seemed distracted much of the time, and wasn't fighting as well as he ought to be. He also was proving more vulnerable to suprise attacks than normal, and his aim and power seemed to be off. However, about a month after the visit to that rather bizarre, and, in Genma's opinion, useless school of martial arts, Ranma started to return to his usual self, and, if anything, started to learn new techniques and control even faster than before. A few weeks later, Genma had forgotten entirely about it.  
  
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Author's Notes: This is a new idea for me; an Alternate Universe fic. I wanted to do a minor change to the Ranmaverse, and yet another bizarre and ridiculous martial art making an appearance seemed to be just about the perfect way to introduce the change I wanted. Yes, I thought that "martial arts physics" was just about the dumbest, most contrived martial art ever, too. However, that's in the spirit of Ranma. Anyhoo, the story will pick up again right at the point where the manga starts. A large portion of this story will be based directly off the manga, although don't be suprised when some events take some rather different twists and turns; that's the whole point. Also, because Ranma's luck is just like that, he will be facing some... er... all new challenges. If you're wondering just what he was taught in that one day, well, that's a secret.  
  
Look for the hijinks and mayhem to begin in part 1: Here's Ranma?! It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again! 


End file.
